Water purifying or softening system.



G. S. ROBISON.

WATER PURIFYING 0R SOPTENING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1908.

Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

m 2 m E ma m a 2 mm. m W E m5 D In A v d .35 3g 35 EH WI messes MX? 77?W C. S. ROBISON.

WATER PURIFYING 0R SOFTENING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llll III Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

IIIIIIHII III! III!

ill,

lllli Inven r I EIIHEIII ifiuhisnn A urne 5 WIUEEE M Whiz WWW UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLINTON S. R.O:B1SON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WATER PURIFYING 0B SOFTENING sYsTEM.

{b all whom it-may concern:

Be it known that I, CLINTON S. RoBIsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Water Purifying orSoftening Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings,forming a part of this specitioation.

My invention relates to water purifying or softening systems, beingdirected particularly to-improved' arrangement for measuring andfeedingchemicals to the water to be softened or purified.

One of the important features of my invention lies in the feeding of thedry chemicals directly to the water to be softened or purified. In priorsystems, a solution is first made of the chemicals to be used, whichsolution is fed at the proper rate to the water to be treated. Thisinvolves considerable unnecessary apparatus. In these systems, specialprovision must be made to attain uniform feed of the solution. Where thesolution is fed from a tank, apparatus must be installed to maintain aconstant level, as otherwise the proportion of chemical solution fed tothe water to be treated will not be correct nor uniform. In my system,the dry chemicals, preferably in a more or less powdered state, are feddirectly to the water to be treated, several compartments-or hoppersbeing provided, into which the different chemicals are placed, and a.

mechanism is provided which is governed by the volume of water flow tomeasure out and feed these chemicals directly to the water.

Another feature of my invention lies in the mechanism for adjusting therate of.

feed of thechemicals. This mechanism is so arranged that the mostunskilled laborer can set the feed mechanism in accordance withinstructions, which can be of the most simple kind. Dial mechanism isprovided which, when turned to a certain, position, will result in acertain rate of feed and in a certain proportion ofchemical supply tothe water. Upon analysis of the water to be treated, the workman ismerely notified to move-the dial mechanism toa certain indication,whereupon the measuringand feed mechanism is at once properly adjustedto give the correct proportion.

Another feature resides in the means for Specification of Letters.Patent.

, Application filed May 27, 1908*;

Patented April 6, 1909.

SeriflNo'. 435 192.

driving the measuring and feed mechanism in accordance with the volumeor rate of flow of the water to be treated. I insert a water wheel inthe path of the water fiow- 1" ing to the reservoir from which thesource of" consumption is fed, this water wheel being connected'indriving relation with the measuring-and feed mechanism. The supply ofchemicals to the water is therefore in exact proportion with the volumeof water to be treated. Arrangement is also made to feed the chemicalsat or near the water wheel Where the water is in more or less commotionand agitation, and batlle webs or extensions are also provided so thatthe chemicals are thoroughly and uniformly mixed with the water.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown the various features of myinvention u ppl icd.

In these drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a water wheelmechanism and feed mechanism in a preferred arrangement. Fig. 2 is a topview of the same mechanism. Fig. 3 is a side View of a section of thefeed mechanism frame showing the adjusting dial mechanism. Fig; 4 is aSLtlflOIltll' View taken on line 44:, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 shows the apparatusof Figs. 1 and 2 mounted on the top of a settling tank. Fig.

3, carried on a shaft 4 which has suitable bearing in the side walls 5and 6 of the frame. Mounted 011 the pipe section 1, near the outletend'of the water wheel, is a hopper frame 7 whose detail constructionisbest shown in Fig. 4. Across the top of the tapered, section 8 is aplate 9, in which is a.

plurality of rectangular openings or passageways 10 and 10 and soon--two such passageways being here shown.

Secured to the plate and extending upwardly therefrom is a rectangularshell or frame 10, which forms a support for telescopingly receiving thelower end of the reservoir frame 11 which has a number of partitions 12to form compartments13 and 13, over'the passageways 10 and 10 Over 10.Over each paddle wheel there is hoodshaped valve 20, readily formed ofsheet material, with its lower edges 21 turned out to form feet forengaging the plate 9 adjacent the sides of the corresponding passageway10. On each valve, there is a lag 22 having a threaded opening 23 forrece vin the corresponding'sorew shaft 18. With this arrangement,turning of the screw shaft will cause the valve to travel along theplate 9 parallel to the corresponding paddle wheeland passageway, thevalves being shorter than the paddle wheels. When the feed mechanism hasthe greatest feedingxcapacity, the valves will be at one endof t e plate9 to expose the entire passageway 10 to the flow of chemicals which areplaced in the reservoir compartments 13 and 13 To decrease thefecdingcapacity of any passageway, the corresponding screw shaft isturned and the valve carried thereby moved to cover more or less of thecorresponding passageway to restrict the flow of the particularchemical. As a means for causing this adjustment, crank handles 24: maybe provided suitably pivoted to the outside of the hopper frame, eachcrank carrying a pinion 25 which meshes with a gear 26 secured to theouter end of the corresponding screw shaft so that turning of the crankwill rotate the screw shaft. Also, connected with the end of each screwshaft is an indicating needle 27 which travels over a dial 28 placedconcentric with the screw sh'aft as shown in Fig. 23. It is, of course,evident that any number of reservoir compartments for chemicals may beused with a corresponding number of passageways, paddle wheels andadjusting mechanisms. These various reser- V011 compartments are filledwith the chemvicalsto be used, and in accordance with analysis made ofthe water to be treated :the workman in charge is instructed to ad- 55',quired. to move the feed adjusting parts to the proper position to givethe desired proportion of mixture. The' paddle wheels and the bladesthereof receive the chemicals and assist in carr ing them to thepassageways and forcing tliem therethrough at a uniform rate, the bladesserving also to disintegrate the chemicals. At the outer end of thepaddle wheel shafts are. mounted gear wheels 29 and 29,, and so on, allconnected together so that turning of one will cause turnmg of the otherand one of the paddle wheel shafts shown as terminating 1n pinion 30,which gears with a bevel pinion 31 at the end of the oblique shaft 32,which terminates at its other end in a bevel gear 33 meshing with abevel pinion 34 secured at the end of the water wheel shaft 4. The shaft32 is shown as journaled in a bearing frame 33 secured to the waterwheel casing and bearing frame 34 extending from the hopper frame, theshaft being confined against longitudinal movement by the collars 35 and36 engaging the outer ends of the bearing frames. As water flows throughthe pipe sect-ion 1, the water wheel is turned and the rotationalmovementtransmitted to the paddl-e wheel shaft which mounts the pinion30, and from this by way of gears 29 to allthe other paddle wheelshafts. The proper passageway adjustment is made for each chemical andthe chemicals fed through the passageways, all passing through thecommon channel 32 into the pipe section 1 and into the water flowingtherethrough. This chan- Del 32' is preferably placed adjacent theoutlet of the water wheel where there is consi'derable commotion andagitation of the water, the chemicals being thus thoroughly mixed withthe water and thoroughly dissolved. With this arrangement, the rate offeed of the chemicals is proportional to the rate of rotation of thewater wheel, and therefore directly proportional to the volume 'of waterflowing through the pipe section 1, and thus the proportion of water andchemicals continues constant for a certain setting of the feedpassageways.

In Fig. 5, the pipe section 1 is connected with the reservoir orsettling tank 37 through the elbow 38, and from the walls of this elbowbevel plates or webs 39 extend. inwardly into the path of the water,thus causing the water to be further agitated to insure perfect anduniform mixture of the chemicals therewith. At the bottom of the tank isthe outflow 40. controlled by the valve 41, through which outflowsediment or settlings may be discharged from the bottom of the tank,while from the outlet 42, controlled by valve 43, connection may be madefrom the tank with the boiler or other source to be supplied with water.

I claim as follows:

1. In a water softening or purifying system, the combination of a pipethrough which water to be treated flows to the place of consumption, areservoir for chemicals communicating directly with said pipe, therebeing a Valve passageway in said reservoir through which the chemicalsflow, a paddle regulate the flow wheel for operating in said passagewayto of the chemicals therethrough, a valve for controlling the amount offlow through the passageway, said valve communicating directly with saidpipe, there being a valve passageway in said reservoir through whlch'thechemicals flow, a paddle wheel for operating in said passageway toregulate the flow of the chemicals therethrough, a valve for controllingthe amount of How through the passageway, said valve being in the formof a hood disposed over the paddle wheel, a driving shaft for the paddlewheel, a water wheel interposed in the pipe to be driven by thewaterflow therethrough, a connection between said water wheel and the paddlewheel shaft whereby said paddle wheel is driven at a rate proportionateto the rate of travel of the water wheel, a screw shaft having threadedengagement with said valve, a

crank for causing rotation of said screw shaft to thereby causelongitudinal movement of the valve to adjust the passageway, and a dialconnected with said screw shaft for indicating the valve adjustment.

In a water softening or purifying systom, the combination of a pipethrough which the water to be treated flows, to a place of consumption,a reservoir connected directly with the pipe and having a plurality ofcompartments forcontaining chemicals, there being a valve passageway inthe base of each compartment, a paddle wheel in each compartment forregulating the flow of chemicals through the valve passageway, a shaftfor each paddle wheel,

said shafts being connected together to be driven in unison, awaterwheel interposed in said pipe and connected with said shafts to causerotation of the paddle wheels at a rate proportionate to the rate ofrotation of the water-wheel, a valve in each compartment adapted to bemoved longitudinally over the valve passageway to adjust the size ofsaid passageway, means at the exterior of each compartment forcontrolling the adjustment of the valve within the compartment, and adial for each valve for indicating its adjustment. 4. In a watersoftening or purifying system, the combination of a pipe through -whichthe water to be treated flows to a place of consumption, a reservoirconnected directly with the pipe and having a p lurality of compartmentsfor containing chemicals, there being a valve passageway in the base ofeachcompartment, a paddle wheel in each compartment for regulating theflow of chemicals through the valve passageway, a shaft for each paddlewheel, said shafts being connected together to be driven in unison, awater wheel interposed in said pipe and connected with said shafts tocause rotation of the paddle wheels at a rate proportionate to the rateof rotation of the water wheel, a valve in each compartmentfadapted tobe moved longitudinally over the valve passageway to adjust the size ofsaid passageway, a screw shaft for each compartment having threadedengagement with said valve so that turning of the screw shaft will causelongitudinal movement of said valve to adjust said passageway, a gear atthe end of each screw shaft, an indicator connected with each screwshaft for indicating the adjustment of the valve, a crank associatedwith each gear, and a pinion con- 1 necting each crank with theassociated I gear,

turning of the crank causing rotation of the associated screw shaft andadjustment of the corresponding valve.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub scribed my name this 25th day ofMay,

CLINTON S. ROBISON. V i tnesses Cams. H. Romson, CHARLES J. SonMIn'r.

